memeorandum: DOUBLE THUMP — GOP WOES DEEPENING — PRESIDENT Bush contributed … (John Podhoretz/New York Post)

11:40 AM ET, November 24, 2006

Top Items:

Russian rocket deliveries to Iran started — Russia has begun deliveries of the Tor-M1 air defence rocket system to Iran, Russian news agencies quoted military industry sources as saying, in the latest sign of a Russian-US rift over Iran. — "Deliveries of the Tor-M1 have begun.

BBC:

Spy's death-bed Putin accusation — Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of involvement in his death, in a statement dictated before he died. — Mr Litvinenko, 43, who died in a London hospital on Thursday evening and is thought to have been poisoned …

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET, On Deadline and Fausta's blog

Richard Beeston / Times of London:

'The bastards got me, they won't get us all' — The poisoned Russian spy breathed defiance at the Kremlin as the effects of a mystery cocktail pushed him towards his death last night. — "I want to survive, just to show them," Alexander Litvinenko said in an exclusive interview given just hours before he died.

Discussion: Publius Pundit

Jill Lawless / Associated Press:

Radioactive substance in ex-spy's body — LONDON - A former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic who blamed a "barbaric and ruthless" Russian President Vladimir Putin for his fatal poisoning had a toxic radioactive substance in his body, the British government said Friday.

Discussion: Power Line

BBC:
Ex-Russian spy dies in hospital

Discussion: Y.A.C.R.W.B and Secular Blasphemy

Steven R. Hurst / Associated Press:

Baghdad attack death toll rises to 202 — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni Muslim insurgents blew up five car bombs and fired mortars into Baghdad's largest Shiite district Thursday, killing at least 202 people and wounding 252 in a dramatic attack that sent the U.S. ambassador racing to meet …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Glittering Eye, Democrats.com, The Jawa Report, AMERICAblog and The RBC

Washington Post:

Assault on Iraqi Civilians Is Deadliest Since 2003 — A barrage of car bombs, mortar attacks and missiles battered the Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City on Thursday afternoon, killing around 200 people and injuring as many more in the single deadliest assault on Iraqi civilians since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Sectarian Attack Is Worst in Baghdad Since Invasion — In the deadliest sectarian attack in Baghdad since the American-led invasion, explosions from five powerful car bombs and a mortar shell tore through crowded intersections and marketplaces in the teeming Shiite district of Sadr City …

Discussion: Unclaimed Territory and THE CUNNING REALIST

Edward Wong / New York Times:
U.S. Fights Highly Trained Militants in Iraq

Discussion: Informed Comment, The Belmont Club and Outside The Beltway

Kirk Semple / New York Times:
Deadly Attack Kills at Least 144 in Baghdad

Discussion: The Belgravia Dispatch and The Heretik

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Drug Industry Is on Defensive as Power Shifts — Alarmed at the prospect of Democratic control of Congress, top executives from two dozen drug companies met here last week to assess what appears to them to be a harsh new political climate, and to draft a battle plan.

Andrew Bridges / Associated Press:

Congress seen pushing for imported drugs — WASHINGTON - Efforts to allow Americans access to cheaper prescription drugs from abroad should blossom once Democrats assume control in Congress, but it won't be a top priority, lawmakers and health care experts said.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

ABC News:

AWB given advance warning of Iraq troop deployment — Previously secret AWB documents have revealed that the wheat exporter was told Australia would join the war against Iraq a year before the Federal Government says it decided to commit troops. — The information came from Australia's Ambassador to the United Nations, John Dauth.

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal

John Quiggin / Crooked Timber:

Downing Street Memos Down Under — Australia now has its own version of the Downing Street memos, dating back to 28 February 2002. That's when Trevor Flugge, Chairman of our (massively corrupt) grain trading monopoly AWB was told of the invasion of Iraq, and of Australia's planned participation …

Discussion: toohotfortnr and A Tiny Revolution

David Johnston / New York Times:

Senate Democrats Revive Demand for Classified Data — Seeking information about detention of terrorism suspects, abuse of detainees and government secrecy, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are reviving dozens of demands for classified documents that until now have been rebuffed …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker

Newsweek:

'Flying While Muslim' — When six Muslim leaders were pulled off an airplane this week, some advocacy groups said it was another example of religious and racial profiling. — Janet Hostetter / AP — Omar Shahin purchased a ticket from Northwest Airlines on Tuesday after being removed …

Investor's Business Daily:
A Profiling In Courage — Homeland Security: Kudos to US Airways.

Discussion: Power Line and Dinocrat

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

DOUBLE THUMP — GOP WOES DEEPENING — PRESIDENT Bush contributed a new word to the political lexicon when he called the GOP defeat on Election Day a "thumpin'." Now, two weeks after the election, the full nature of the "thumpin' " is coming through pretty clearly …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Power Line

Olivia Munoz / Associated Press:

Calif. Judge Blocks Raids on Homeless Camps — FRESNO, Calif. — When city workers tore down her hillside encampment, Charlene Clay lost her asthma medicine, her sleeping bags and her only photos of her dead granddaughter. — The people living there weren't warned, she said.

Discussion: Alabama Liberation Front

Terry Glavin / Tyee:

Anti-War Movement's Strange Allies: Hard Line Islamists — Canada's progressive Muslims wonder why left would embrace theocrats. — TheTyee.ca — This is what it's come to: a disgraced, dictator-praising British MP who dances around in red tights on reality-television shows is visiting Canada …

Discussion: USS Neverdock and Peaktalk

Blacksmith Jade / Blacksmiths of Lebanon:

Breaking News: Small Riots in Beirut and Gunfire in Tripoli - Updated! — Update: — Apart from a few isolated fist fights throughout Beirut, the demonstrations appear to have not resulted in any damage or injuries. Reports coming in of deployment of security forces and a peaceful disperion of rioters.

Discussion: The Belmont Club